Sex offender sentenced for having 11,000 child porn images

CINCINNATI, OH (FOX19) -

A convicted sex offender was sentenced Tuesday for possessing more than 11,000 images of child pornography and sharing them over the Internet.

William Lee Allen Jr., 41, of Cincinnati was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 240 months in prison, the maximum allowed under federal law for possession of child pornography, and ordered to be placed under court supervision for the rest of his life.

According to court documents, Allen approached an undercover investigator patrolling the Internet in January 2011 expressing a desire to look at child pornography and watch someone abuse a child. HSI investigators identified Allen by tracing his Internet address, obtained a search warrant for his apartment, and found a computer containing more than 11,000 images of child pornography. Many of the images and/or videos depict minor prepubescent children being sexually abused and/or posed in sexually explicit poses. Agents arrested Allen. He has been in custody since his arrest.

Allen was convicted in 1991 in Clermont County of rape and gross sexual imposition involving three minor victims. Allen pleaded guilty in federal court on April 25, 2011 to possession of child pornography.

"The need to protect the community from further crimes of the defendant is paramount in this case," Assistant U.S. Attorney Christy Muncy wrote in a memorandum filed with the court prior to sentencing. "While incarcerated the defendant should be ordered to participate in allavailable mental health and sex offender programs."

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.